Key facts
- Asylum seekers deported by the U.S. to Sierra Leone risk being sent back to countries where they fear persecution.
- This practice continues despite prior U.S. court orders barring deportation to those specific countries.
Asylum seekers deported by the U.S. to Sierra Leone face the risk of being sent back to their home countries where they fear persecution, according to lawyers and documents. This occurs despite prior U.S. court orders barring their deportation to those nations.
The U.S. policy of deporting asylum seekers to third countries like Sierra Leone, from which they may be returned to their home countries of persecution, raises significant human rights concerns and potentially violates international asylum laws.
Asylum seekers deported by the U.S. to Sierra Leone are at risk of being sent back to their home countries where they face persecution, according to lawyers and documents seen by The Associated Press. This situation arises despite prior U.S. court orders that had barred their deportation to those specific nations.
Approximately a dozen individuals deported from the U.S. arrived in Sierra Leone on Thursday, marking the second such flight to the country. This follows a previous arrival of nine West African migrants last month, as confirmed by Erica Reilly, an attorney representing one of the deportees.
Sierra Leone is among at least nine African nations that have entered into third-country deportation agreements with the U.S. Authorities have stated that only citizens of West African countries are being accepted. Similar agreements have also been reached with several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A briefing pamphlet distributed to migrants upon their arrival in Freetown, the capital, indicates that the government and its contractors aim to "return you home as quickly and safely as possible." The pamphlet, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, was provided by Kenvah Solutions, a private contractor hired by the Sierra Leone government to manage the deportees' accommodation, food, healthcare, and transfer. The pamphlet describes Sierra Leone as a "temporary transit location" with no provision for long-term settlement.
Under a series of often undisclosed agreements, the Trump administration has deported thousands of individuals to countries other than their own as part of its broader immigration crackdown, according to advocates. Immigration lawyers suggest that the Trump administration utilizes deportations to third countries as a legal strategy to indirectly compel asylum seekers to return to their home nations.
Sierra Leone's foreign minister, Timothy Kabba, stated last month that the government's agreement with the Trump administration is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. government. The program has a cap of 25 deportees per month and 300 per year, with the duration of the arrangement not specified.
Reilly, representing a Nigerian man among those deported, expressed concern that the migrants have limited recourse to prevent being sent to their home countries, despite having legal protections from U.S. courts. Earlier this month, rights lawyers initiated a case against Equatorial Guinea before Africa's top human rights body, alleging that the nation forced deportees from the United States back to their home countries in violation of their rights. Reilly added that the U.S. government appears to disavow responsibility for the fate of deportees after they leave the United States.